Art

The Man Who Made Pools Worth $90 Million: David Hockney's Most Valuable Works

On 11 June, just a month before his 89th birthday, David Hockney died at the age of 88. An artist who managed to unite the British intellectual tradition with a deep knowledge of European culture and a distinctive sense of irony, Hockney leaves behind one of the most influential bodies of work in contemporary art. We look back at his career and the ten works that shaped both his market and our understanding of what contemporary painting is worth.

Known for his images of swimming pools, palm trees, Californian light, and expansive landscapes, David Hockney, a contemporary of Andy Warhol and Britain’s leading Pop Art protagonist, was, above all, a master of moving effortlessly across time, as all truly great artists do. He was also a committed hedonist. His brightly coloured outfits at exhibition openings (he held more than 400 solo exhibitions throughout his lifetime) became almost as iconic as his paintings, as did the way he signed his letters: Love Life. David Hockney.

Hockney was equally comfortable with the bold visual language of the poster and the rigorous study of perspective. He experimented fearlessly with materials, becoming one of the first artists to embrace acrylic paint for large-scale works. He created installations and photographic collages, worked in watercolour and, in his later years, produced monumental landscape compositions on an iPad. His dialogue extended both to his contemporaries — the parties in the Hollywood Hills and the houses of Los Angeles that populated his paintings from the 1960s onwards clearly informed the visual world later recreated by Quentin Tarantino in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood — and to the masters of the Renaissance. The theme of the Annunciation, whether directly referencing Fra Angelico or not, remained a recurring motif throughout his career.

At the same time, Hockney’s work remained profoundly British. There was a distinctly dandyish conviction behind his belief that art history existed primarily as a conversation one could have personally. He could debate Piero della Francesca’s theories of perspective, investigate the optical secrets of the Old Masters and then transform a swimming pool — water being one of the central symbols of life, rebirth and baptism in Christian iconography — into one of the defining images of contemporary art. Beneath the apparent ease of his paintings lay an almost academic obsession with how images function and why we see the world the way we do.

In 2018, Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) sold for $90.3 million, making Hockney the most expensive living artist in the world at the time. The title had previously belonged to another British giant, Lucian Freud. The debate between these two painters may now continue elsewhere. Here on earth, however, Hockney’s market is likely to grow. The art market tends to be more pragmatic than the afterlife: artists who enter the canon during their lifetime rarely lose value after their death.

Below are the ten most expensive David Hockney works sold at auction, based on publicly confirmed results including buyer’s premium.

1. Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), 1972 — $90.3 million

Perhaps the most recognisable image in Hockney’s oeuvre, the painting combines a swimming pool, a submerged figure and a man standing at the water’s edge. It has become not only an emblem of Hockney’s career but one of the defining images of post-war art. In 2018, it sold at Christie’s New York for $90.3 million, setting a world record for a living artist at the time.

2. Henry Geldzahler and Christopher Scott, 1969 — £37.7 million (approximately $49.5 million)

One of Hockney’s great double portraits, depicting Metropolitan Museum curator Henry Geldzahler and his partner Christopher Scott. Sold at Christie’s London in 2019 for £37.7 million, the painting captures not only close friends but figures at the centre of New York’s cultural establishment — museums, influence and taste — a world in which Hockney had become a key participant.

3. Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy, 1968 — $44.3 million

This 2025 sale became one of the most significant in Hockney’s market history. The portrait of writer Christopher Isherwood and artist Don Bachardy sold at Christie’s New York for $44.3 million. It was the first work from Hockney’s celebrated double-portrait series, introducing themes he would revisit throughout his career: intimacy, psychological distance and the quiet drama of everyday life.

4. Nichols Canyon, 1980 — $41.1 million

One of Hockney’s most important landscapes and the most expensive landscape by the artist ever sold at auction. Dedicated to the winding roads of the Hollywood Hills and the artist’s daily route between home and studio, the painting sold at Phillips New York in 2020 for $41.067 million.

5. The Splash, 1966 — £23.1 million (approximately $30 million)

If Andy Warhol had his soup cans, Hockney had his swimming pools. The Splash remains one of the artist’s most iconic works and a defining image of his Californian period. No human figure appears in the painting; instead, the splash left behind becomes the protagonist. In February 2020, the work sold at Sotheby’s London for £23.1 million.

6. Sur la Terrasse, 1971 — $29.5 million

One of the most personal and emotionally complex portraits in Hockney’s career. Painted during his relationship with Peter Schlesinger, the work appears at first glance to be a tranquil scene on a sunlit terrace in southern France. Yet beneath its calm surface lies the psychological tension characteristic of Hockney’s finest paintings. The work sold at Christie’s New York in 2019 for $29.5 million.

7. A Lawn Being Sprinkled, 1967 — $28.6 million

Another work from Hockney’s Californian period, this time returning to the theme of water without either a swimming pool or human figures. The geometry of a perfectly maintained lawn, automatic sprinklers and bright Californian sunlight creates an image of suburban America seen through British eyes. In May 2024, the painting sold at Christie’s New York for $28.585 million.

8. Pacific Coast Highway and Santa Monica, 1990 — $28.5 million

Replacing the intimate scale of portraits and pools with a panoramic vision of Southern California, the painting depicts roads, ocean views, palm trees and endless movement. It is considered one of the key works of Hockney’s mature period. In May 2018, it sold at Sotheby’s New York for $28.453 million.

9. Early Morning, Sainte-Maxime, 1968–1969 — £20.9 million

Although Hockney is most often associated with Los Angeles, one of his most expensive works is dedicated to the south of France. Painted between 1968 and 1969, the work belongs to a period when Hockney travelled extensively throughout Europe and pushed further into experiments with colour and space. In 2022, it sold at Christie’s London for £20.875 million.

10. California, 1965 — £18.7 million

Painted shortly after Hockney’s move to Los Angeles, California is among the works in which he first established the visual language that would make him famous. Bright sunlight, swimming pools, modernist architecture and a sense of limitless freedom — so different from the post-war Britain he had left behind — all appear here for the first time. In March 2024, the painting sold at Christie’s London for £18.71 million, confirming the continued strength of demand for Hockney’s early Californian works.